Tag: South Africa

Cricket: Steyn and co to wreck Boxing Day havoc

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South Africa’s concern over their revamped batting line-up was misguided.  In their first outing without Smith and Kallis (and Duminy to an extent) the side amassed a whopping 552/5 to ease the worry about the post veteran era.  The truth is however, that their opponents are significantly weaker and are unlikely to test too many international batting lineups, especially given the uncertainty surrounding the WICB and with their bowling likely to suffer with the injury to Kemar Roach.

Port Elizabeth shapes as a test of depth for the West Indians.  The players are the best available save for injuries and now they just need to prove it.  While the tour will provide a heap of experience for youngsters like Blackwood and Johnson, for the sake of the cricket it still needs to be an even contest and for that reason it needs runs from the pair; along with more telling contributions from Chanderpaul, Smith and Ramdin.

The Last Time These Two Met

The first test went exactly to plan for the favourites.  Their batsman got some valuable crease time and added centuries to their career stats columns.  What’s more their new number six (and possible opening solution if Alviro Petersen continues to fail) got in on the act too.  Stiaan van Zyl scoring 101* to match hundreds from AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla.  That meant South Africa only needed to bat once as the West Indies struggled to just 201 and 131 with none of their batsmen passing 40.

The Teams

South Africa (likely): 1 Alviro Petersen, 2 Dean Elgar, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 Hashim Amla (capt), 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 Stiaan van Zyl, 7 Temba Bavuma, 8 Vernon Philander, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Imran Tahir

South Africa have lost wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock for the series to an ankle injury which will see AB de Villiers take back the gloves to assist the balance of the team.  The final batting spot should go to Temba Bavuma in a historic selection.  Kyle Abbott is also out; Imran Tahir replaces him.

West Indies (likely): 1 Kraigg Brathwaite, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Leon Johnson, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Jermaine Blackwood, 7 Denesh Ramdin (capt, wk), 8 Jerome Taylor, 9 Shannon Gabriel, 10 Sulieman Benn, 11 Sheldon Cottrell

Shannon Gabriel for Kemar Roach is expected to be the only change.

The Key Players

Dale Steyn – Steyn had no wickets in the first innings at Centurion but destroyed the West Indies in the second dig snaring 6 in just over 8 overs.  It was his 25th five wicket haul and further outlined his potency in his home conditions.  He is so effective on bouncing wickets and Port Elizabeth should be be no different. I hope for the West Indies sake they have tightened their back foot defence in preparation for some Steyn chin music.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul – It’s rare when Chanderpaul doesn’t score runs.  For someone that has scored over 11,000 test match runs at an average above 52 there are not many rough patches.  However, he may be going through one at the moment.  It may only be three innings but the 40 year old has struggled in South Africa thus far.  He followed up his warm up game duck with 21 and 4 in the first test, getting caught behind the wicket on both occasions.  The tourists will be desperate for Shiv to bounce back from the double failure and rediscover the form he had in the Bangladesh series.

The Odds*

South Africa – $1.22

Draw – $5.00

West Indies – $15.00

*International Cricket odds courtesy of Ladbrokes Australia.

The Prediction

The menacing South African pace attack of Steyn, Philander and Morkel will inevitably be too skilful for a West Indies team that is missing two quality batsman to pose any real threat.  The South African batsman could really feast out on the West Indies attack too, so steer clear of any low odd run scoring and lump on a South African win.

Cricket: South Africa start as favourites in WI series

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When you scratch names like Kallis and Smith from the team sheet and also throw in injuries to names like Duminy, the South African test cricket side starts to take a very unfamiliar shape.  New names like van Syl, Elgar, Bavuma and Rabada replace the mainstays and carry the burden of a new era of cricket.

The new era begins tonight with a test match series against the enigmatic West Indies team.  Centurion hosts game number one in what many are tipping to be a one-sided contest.  Despite the personnel changes South Africa go into the match and series as heavy favourites.  They still possess enough quality in de Villiers, du Plessis, and Amla to trouble even the best in World and should enjoy the home conditions against a West Indies attack lacking in out and out quicks.

What the tourists lack in quicks they make up for in reliable professional cricketers.  Most of the squad are now comfortable in the international environment, fitting in well around the experience of Samuels, Chanderpaul, and Ramdin. They played nicely in their only warm up game against an invitational XI and will be hoping to reprise similar form as they step up to the test arena.

The Last Time These Two Met

The two teams play for the Sir Vivian Richards Trophy.  The last time they met to contest the trophy was in 2010 when South Africa won the series 2-0 in the West Indies.  South Africa had big wins in Bridgetown and Port of Spain while the match at Basseterre ended in a draw.

The Teams

South Africa (likely): 1 Alviro Petersen, 2 Dean Elgar, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 Hashim Amla (capt), 5 AB de Villiers, 6 Stiaan van Zyl, 7 Quinton de Kock (wk), 8 Vernon Philander, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Kyle Abbott/Robin Peterson

West Indies (likely): 1 Kraigg Brathwaite, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Leon Johnson, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 7 Denesh Ramdin (capt & wk), 8 Jerome Taylor, 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Sheldon Cottrell, 11 Sulieman Benn/Shannon Gabriel

The Key Players

Alviro Petersen – A catchy tagline describes Petersen’s recent form.  23 innings and 23 months without a century.  It’s a worrying statistic for South African cricket who have lost a host of big names with big cricket experience.  Being heavily scrutinised might suit Petersen though as he often plays some of his best cricket under pressure.

Kraigg Brathwaite – The 22-year old is unlike many West Indian batsman.  He doesn’t bat with any of the traditional flair, instead he accumulates using his immense powers of concentration.  He was in sublime form against Bangladesh in September (212, 4*, 63, 45) and has carried that on with some handy knocks against Sri Lanka A.  Brathwaite is an accomplished back foot player so he should be able to cope with the South African attack on South African pitches.

The Odds*

South Africa – $1.33

Draw – $4.00

West Indies – $12.00

*International Cricket odds courtesy of TopBetta.

The Prediction

South Africa will have too much quality for their opponents in this match and in the series.  The seamers in particular are expected to be a difficult prospect on the quick and bouncy surfaces.

 

International Cricket Catch Up

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Plenty of International Cricket to sink the teeth into.  Check out the quick version of each series below:

New Zealand v Pakistan

Australia came to Abu Dhabi, saw Younis bat, and got royally conquered.  Now it’s New Zealand’s turn to experience the formidable Pakistan batting unit, that has settled in on the Abu Dhabi pitches like a homeless man at an affluent street corner.  The first test is already underway, and has essentially already been decided.  The top five for Pakistan all made over 80 for the first time in Test cricket; they made 566/3d.  But Luxbet still has them at $1.75 and $2 on the draw.

New Zealand batsmen traditionally struggle against quality spin bowling, and while the Pakistan duo (trio if you include Mohammad Hafeez) are relatively inexperienced, they dismantled the Australians, and will extract plenty of venom from a pitch already turning and bouncing.  New Zealand’s best players of spin are Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor who entered this game with some injury concerns which has limited their batting time.  This will increase the susceptibility of a big defeat and may also mean others get the opportunity to shine.  BJ Watling is an excellent player of the sweep shot and looks a good bet for top runscorer for the Black Caps.

Look for spinners to dominate the leading wicket-takers for the rest of the series if you can find series betting.  Pakistan 2-0 with New Zealand scraping a draw in the last of the International Cricket three match series.

Australia v South Africa

International Cricket is also in Australia at the moment as South Africa and Australia fine tune their World Cup preparations with a (recently completed) three match T20 series (won by Australia, 2-1) and five ODI’s.  While the B sides battled it out in the hit and giggle version of International Cricket, the ODI’s will be a much sterner test for both sides and I’m picking this to be a mightily close series.  The Aussies need to bring some respectability back to their summer game after the aforementioned spanking at the hands of Pakistan.  Whereas the South Africans were very strong against New Zealand in a hasty three match series played before they crossed over the Australia soil.

Bet365 have instilled Australia as $1.66 series winner favourites with South Africa paying $2.20.  In the personal stakes, Michael Clarke looks a great top run getter options at $6.  Faf du Plessis looks sensible at $4.50.  Draw permitting this could well be a World Cup Final next year so I’m expecting some high quality cricket and high scores.  The big grounds and flat pitches in Australia are conducive to quality one day cricket.

India v Sri Lanka

Filling in for the West Indies, who inexplicably pulled out of a partially completed Indian tour, the Sri Lankan’s have found it difficult to compete with the star-studded Indian line-up.  Already two down, the tourists will need something special to contain the likes of Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dawan, Ambati Rayadu, and Ajinkya Madhukar Rahane.  That said, the resting of MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan and Ravindra Jadeja will give Sri Lanka a chance to salvage some pride.

The Indian batting lineup has been far too dominant early in this series and their bowlers have had the uncanny knack of starting with very early wickets.  That combination makes it hard to suggest any other winner than India.  Sportingbet Australia are offering odds on this International Cricket match.  They have India at $1.42, Sri Lanka at $2.85.  If Robin Uthappa gets a go in the last two games whack a couple of quid on him to top score.  He’s paying $7.50 to do so in the 4th ODI.

Zimbabwe v Bangladesh

Our International Cricket roundup finishes in Chittagong.  The 3rd test looms as another one-sided contest.  In Tamin Iqbal, Sahib Al-Hassan, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh have the best players on display and will again be too strong.  Don’t look to back any individual players who are not the four listed above.

Betfair Australia has Zimbabwe as rank outsiders at $7.40 for the third test.  Bangladesh are at $1.69.  The draw is actually quite attractive at $3.55.

 

 

 

International Cricket Preview – NZ v South Africa

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New Zealand and South Africa begin their 2015 Cricket World Cup preparations today in an unusually scheduled October three match series kicking off at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.  Winter has only just finished in New Zealand, and the nations favourite sporting team (the All Blacks) are still commanding most of the media coverage on the back of a narrow weekend victory and an end of season tour squad announcement.  That has allowed South Africa to sneak into the country, and the Black Caps to prepare for the series without too much fuss.  In fact to be even talking about cricket in New Zealand during October is unheard of; there has never been an international cricket match played in New Zealand in October.

The players could command some headline space with some series heroics, however, most will be using the series to press their claims for inclusion in their sides’ World Cup squads.  Fine tuning combinations, testing new game plans and managing workloads / injuries will be the norm in the series.  The combination of small New Zealand grounds and the fact that 350 scores will win the World Cup (not 280) should see some decent scores in the series if weather does not intervene.

New Zealand 

1 Jimmy Neesham, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Dean Brownlie, 4 Brendon McCullum (capt), 5 Tom Latham, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Trent Boult/Matt Henry

New Zealand’s probable line-up features a number of talking points.  Injuries to Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson, and Tim Southee mean plenty of opportunities for fringe squad members to prove their wares.  All-rounder Jimmy Neesham will get the chance to open although it doesn’t appear to be a baptism of fire rather than an opportunity to savour.  Facing Steyn, Morkel and Philander on an October pitch seems scary.  Middle order novices Dean Brownlie and Tom Latham come in to the middle order basting of decent winter form.  With Taylor, Williamson, and potentially wild child Jessie Ryder to return, the pair appear to be fighting for a batting back up spot only.  Daniel Vettori also returns; he’ll bowl his ten overs for very few runs and generally labour around the outfield.

South Africa

1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller, 7 Ryan McLaren, 8 Vernon Philander, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Imran Tahir

On paper the South African squad is Beyonce flawless.  The squad is well settled; they have no injury concerns.  The team also enter the series in a rich vein of form having toppled Australia (and Zimbabwe) in a recent ti-series.  A couple of question marks remain about their soft middle order of Duminy, Miller and McLaren, but those three are only required if du Pleases, de Villiers and Amla miss out (which is incredibly rare).

Predictions 

Win Match 1 – New Zealand – $2.68 – Topbetta (NZ are a strong ODI side at home, worth a punt)

Most Runs SA – Faf du Plessis – $4.50 – Tom Waterhouse (Faf du Plessis’ last nine international innings include three centuries, two nineties, and two fifties)

Most Runs NZ – Dean Brownlie – $6 – Tom Waterhouse (In dominant form for NZA recently. A quality back foot player, which will help against Morkel, Steyn.  Test century against SA.  Other NZ’ers without much cricket recently)

Most 6’s – South Africa – $2.10 – Unibet (Nothing in the odds, but aside from McCullum and Anderson they don’t hit sixes.  de Villiers, Miller and de Kock will).